Mulan Tortall Style
by Goddess Belladri
Summary: It's nothing like my other MulanTortall fic. This time I used Alanna and the first Mulan movie.
1. For Her Brother

**I FINALLY found the blasted Mulan video so I could make this fic. Yay! It's gonna take a ton of serious twisting to get this story to work, but I think I can do it. If you guys have any suggestions (No flames please and thank you) feel free to send me your thoughts. I love hearing from you people.**

**Okay now, I want to dedicate this fic to NealsChick who showed the most enthusiasm when I first brought up the idea and would constantly remind me that I had said I would make this fic.**

**Disclaimer: All the characters, countries, etc. of the Tortall books belong to Tamora Pierce blah, blah, blah. Mulan belongs to Disney and so on and so on and so forth. Needless to say I own nothing. **

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**Chapter 1: For Her Brother**

She was walking down an empty corridor when a commotion in her father's office caught her attention. Leaning her head against the door, Alanna of Trebond listened intently to the conversation her father was having with someone. As her father's guest began to speak, she realized that it was her twin brother, Thom.

"But, you know I'm no good with a sword," her brother argued. "I will be of no use to them there."

"It's not my decision, Thom, one male from each noble family must assist in the war, whether he wishes to or not," she knew that to be the voice of her father. "That is all; you leave for the capital at first light tomorrow. That is all."

She stepped away from the door just as her brother came through. "It's too bad I'm not a boy. I'd be better off serving the army than you would; you and I both know that."

Thom shook his head, "Well, you're not and no matter how good of a fighter you are, they won't let girls into the army."

Alanna sighed. "Yeah… it sucks, really. Y'know, I could cut my hair and-"

"Forget it. If father found out, we'd be up to our necks in trouble."

"That man doesn't care a rat's rump about us," she replied. "He's so much more interested in his work that I don't think he'll even notice."

"I don't know, Alanna, what if we get caught?"

"Do you really wanna serve the army?"

As much as he wanted his sister to take his place, Thom had a bad feeling about what would happen if they got caught. That feeling won out over his desire to have her go instead. "Sorry, I can't let you do it."

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That night at dinner was very silent. As much as she knew she should, she just couldn't let the matter drop. She slammed her soup bowl down on the table and turned to her father, "He shouldn't have to go. Thom'll just get himself killed out there."

"Alanna, what the heck are you bringing this up for? I though we had discussed this!" her brother hissed in her ear.

Alan of Trebond, the twins' father, looked at his daughter sharply, "Alanna, the army requires a male from our family. He must go."

"If a male must go, why don't you? You'd probably be better a swordsmanship here than him."

"I have a duty to my country here; you and your brother must learn your places in life as well."

"Our duties! You have a duty to us as our father, yet all we've ever learned has come from Maude and Coram!" Not bothering with her meal, Alanna stormed out of the dining hall in a fury.

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Just because he didn't want her do didn't mean she was going to listen to him. If it came down to a fight over the matter, she'd definetly win. Late that night, way after the others had gone to bed (like just after midnight or so), Alanna snuck into Thoms room and grabbed the letter addressing his request at the palace. Quickly leaving the room, she hurried down the corridor to where the armoury was. Snatching a well fitting set of armour, chain mail, etc, she unscathed a sword and used it to roughly cut her hair before setting out to the stables. She had no time to lose; she had to leave right away before anyone found her out.

Her mare whinnied as she approached, not recognizing her mistress.

"Hush." She paused in the middle of saddling her horse when she heard footsteps. Hearing them draw closer to the stables, she finished the fastenings and swung up onto the animal. The door slowly opened as she prepared to ride at full speed if she had to.

"Alanna?" It was Corram. "What are you doin' up so late?"

"I could ask you the same question." Without hesitation, she bolted out of the stables and hurried out to the open roads."

"Alanna! Git back here, lass!" the man called, but she just kept riding.

She had to do this. Not only to prove how good of fighters women can be, not only to prove that she can take care of herself, but for him. He couldn't fight, he was terrible at swordplay. He wouldn't last five seconds on a battle field. She was the only one who could do this, for her brother."

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**I've always been a sucker for people doing things to save the hide of their sibling(s). Guess that's because mine are evil beasts. XD. Now then, that's the first chapter. I'll be busy for the next couple of days so don't expect an update right away, but I will update as soon as I can. **


	2. An Unexpected Visitor

**Sorry it took me so long to update. I wasn't expecting to update a lot sooner but as soon as I got back to school my teachers dump a mountain of homework and tests on me. But I'm finally free of it all and ready to get back to work on my stories. Thanks so much to those who reviewed in my absence: )**

**Disclaimer: You know the drill: Not mine; never was, never will be.**

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**Chapter 2: An Unexpected Visitor**

The palace lay just before her. Just looking at it, Alanna thought how simple it would be to just walk in there, go through the training, go to war, come home and it'll be all over with. There was just one thing that wouldn't stop bugging her; it was like an itch that you couldn't scratch without taking off the first few layers of skin. What if she got caught? Determination and stubbornness filled her purple eyes, she wouldn't let that happen. Tugging the reins, she continued down the sloping hill towards the stone building.

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It was noisy and crowded inside the courtyard as Alanna passed through the gate. Nobles, commoners, servants, everyone was all in a hurry to get somewhere, lugging large bags or struggling with a stubborn steed. Either way, it was difficult for her to make her way through the crowd. She finally reached the stables and found a free stall. Once everything there was taken care of, she set off towards the castle itself.

Locating the room that had been assigned to Thom, she put her things away, hiding anything that would signal to anyone that she was female.

There came a sudden knock at the door to her room. Startled slightly, she straitened from shoving her empty luggage under her bed. Opening the door, she found a tall man with hazel eyes that had more green in them than any other colour.

"Thom of Trebond?" he asked.

Without thinking, Alanna replied, "No."

"Then who're you, lad?"

"Alann-" Catching herself before making a huge mistake, she quickly replied, "Alan of Trebond."

"I thought we were supposed to have a Thom of Trebond boarded here," The man's partner- who Alanna hadn't noticed- said.

"That's true, Timon," The hazel eyed man replied.

Alanna felt uneasy. "Oh, Thom got seriously injured in an accident with one of our horses. It was so bad I had to be sent instead."

"I see. I don' think I've ever heard of Alan havin' a second son who was named after him."

Alanna shrugged. "He never really says anything about me. He always so intent on the work he's doing that he never really speaks of me or my brother and sister."

"Very well then, you have the rest of the day to spend getting yourself organized. If you need any help, just find George or myself," Timon instructed before the two men trotted down the corridor to the next room.

Letting out the air that she had been holding, Alanna slipped back into her room with a sigh of relief. "Mithros, that was close."

_- You do realize that they will eventually find out-_

Alanna looked about her room only to find a black cat sitting by the window. Surly it hadn't spoken. That was just not normal. A black cat… Alanna frowned. She didn't own a black cat. Where had this little critter come from?

_-Staring at me will do you no good-_

"It was the cat…" Alanna sank down onto her bed.

_-No, it was the dog-_ the cat remarked sarcastically.

"What are you doing here?"

_-If you want to pull this off, you're gonna need some help-_

"How much help is a cat going to be?"

The cat hissed. He crawled over to the bed and leapt up next to her. His front paws pressed hard on her chest. His violet eyes, eyes much like her own, were hard. _–I'm no ordinary cat, human. You may not think I'll be of much help to you, but just wait until you find yourself in hot water-_

"Alright, alright!" Alanna was thankful that it had backed off her. Its claws had torn through her shirt and had lightly nicked her skin. "What should I call you?"

_-That's your _decision_-_

"Alright then, I'll call you Faithful." _Though I don't know how faithful you'll be._

Satisfied, Faithful retreated to over by the fire place.

Alanna had so many questions about why Faithful was here and why he thought he would be of some help to her. But that would have to wait. He had curled up into a black fuzzy ball and gone to sleep.

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**Yes, I know, short. It's just that this dull chapter needs to be put in before I can put in more exciting chapters. Those chapters WILL be longer. I swear!**

**Madame-S-Butterfly: Well, yeah. They both disguise as men, they both go off into war, and they both have their secrets revealed and everybody's okay with it. Thanks for the vote of confidence. With you guys telling me how good or bad I am at this, it has to be good.**

**nicolerenea: Thanks! It's nice to hear from my reviewers from Mulan 2 Tortall Style.**

**stormrider7: No offence taken. If that's how you feel about Mulan 2, you go ahead and feel that way. It has nothing to do with how good or bad my story is. I think everyone likes the first movie better because it has more action in it.**

**NealsChick: Well, you SHOULD feel loved! I wasn't joking when I asked I you would be okay if I dedicated it to you! As for my Someday fic, well…since you said please.**

**Gretta99: I didn't notice that. But I had spent the past few nights up past two in the morning so I was pretty tired. I had totally forgotten about Faithful! Mucho thanks for the reminder. I had trouble deciding whether or not Alanna shout be ten or eighteen but I found a compromise; she'll be about fourteen. As for romance, there could be some slight romance, I haven't decided yet. There won't be too much because I really want this to focus on Alanna's war life, not her love life.**

**Pink Squishy Llama: Ebil beasts! Evil siblings: best (or worst) of both worlds! XD. See? I updated. It didn't kill you now, did it?**


	3. Training Begins

**First off, I'm so freakin' sorry! I haven't been able to get on the computer as much as I would've liked. My whole schedule for this month is filled with things that require me to be very far away from the computer T-T. I'm going to apologize in advance for if anyone seems OOC. I haven't read the series in a long time.**

**Disclaimer: In my world, the sky is at our feet, black and white are colours, big dogs are scared of little ones, and I am Tamora Pierce. Unfortunately, the sky is above us, black and white are shades, little dogs run from big ones, and I'm nobody important.**

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**Chapter 3: Training Begins**

Rising early, Alanna prepared for the morning training. Brushing her hair, she looked over at Faithful who was curled up on her bed, eyes purple slits. She had thought she had dreamt him, but there he was. She had gotten sick of feeling the animal's eye on her and turned to him. "How long are you going to be watching me like that? Why don't you go and chase mice or birds, or something like a normal cat?"

_-But I'm not a normal cat-_ was the reply.

Rolling her eyes, Alanna set down the brush and started on cleaning her teeth, reading over the training schedule George had handed her later the previous day.

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Alanna couldn't believe how many young men had gathered to fight in the war as she marched down to the practise yard. She figured there had to be at least two hundred or so men.

"This isn't even half of the people who're fighting," Someone said behind her.

Turning around, she found a group of young men maybe slightly older than her. They were Raoul of Golden Lake and Gary of Naxen. She recognized the two from supper. Amongst them was a youth with dark hair and blue eyes who was new to her.

"Really? Not even half? But there's so many!"

"It's true. They've all been divided up into groups that train in different fields," The dark haired youth replied.

"Oh," Alanna replied dumbly.

Raoul leaned over to her and whispered, "This is Prince Jonathan, Alan."

Another dumb expression crossed her face as she bowed and made a hurried apology which sounded like she had said it in just one breath. She mentally scolded herself for not have knowing. Rising, she found him smiling at her.

"No need for an apology. I'm sure you didn't expect to see someone like me out here," he replied.

"No, I didn't actually, sire."

An order for all those training in the first field to hurry up and grab a staff, then get into three lines, one at least five feet apart from each other. They would begin by showing anyone unfamiliar with how to fight with a staff the basic techniques before the actual training began.

Alanna was thankful that when they had begun to pair people off that she was with Raoul. She knew that there were people on this field that might get a little too aggressive one they were permitted to begin. Since the two had become fast friends yesterday, she was sure he'd take it easy with her.

"Everyone, take your stances. Begin!"

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She was wiping the sweat off her face with her handkerchief as she pushed open her bedroom door. Faithful was yowling and hissing at the man who was in her room, taking her things and packing them in the luggage case.

"Who are you?" She demanded, closing her door behind her firmly.

He turned to her and she recognised him.

"Corram? What in Mithros' name are you doing?" She asked, fists firm on her hips.

"Lass, you're gonna get yourself killed out here. I'm here to take you back home."

"Do you really think you're capable of doing that?" she leaned back on the door. "Have you forgotten what I can do?"

He paled ever so slightly. "You wouldn't…"

She smiled wickedly. "Try me. Now, unpack my things, we're staying." Watching him, she was thankful that she had gotten here before he had a chance to find where she kept her undergarments.

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**Okay, more's coming up. I'll try to find more time to update but it'll be hard what with so much stuff going on.**

**NealsChick: I'll get started on that second chap for Someday ASAP.**

**nicolerena: Well, here's the next chapter. **


	4. Ready for War

**Hello peoples! Before we begin, for anyone interested, LeiaPrincess21 has a C2 called _Complete DN Story Archive_ and she's looking for staff members. She would REALLY appreciate all the help she can get. If you're interested, please let her know. Or you can let me know and I'll tell her for you. Whatever works for you lot. **

**Disclaimer: Not mine.**

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**Chapter 4: Ready for War**

Through rain, sleet, or hail, they trained long and hard with staffs and archery. There were some days Alanna didn't even want to leave her bed and wondered who was crazy enough to plan that they get up so early. On a particularly wet afternoon, they had decided to try something new, swordplay.

_Finally, no more hitting people with sticks, _Alanna thought, pleased. Of course, she knew they wouldn't exactly be starting off with real swords. About a little over half probably hadn't even seen a sword before in his whole life.

**-----------------**

"We've been at this training stuff for quite a while now, when will we actually get around to the war?" Alanna asked. She, Raoul, Gary, and Jonathan were all gathered in Gary's rooms. Three shrugs were her sole answer. "Surly you know something, Jon."

"No. All that I was told is that we'll head out onto the battleground when Sir Myles feels that we're ready. Until then, Alan, you'll have to be patient."

She sighed. "That's easier said than done."

"You never know, that day just might come sooner than you think," Raoul warned.

"Fine."

**-----------------**

King Roald frowned. "Are you sure about this, Myles?"

The knight seated across from him nodded. "If you were to send troops 4 and 7 in ahead here and here," Myles points to two areas on the map, "we would have a better chance of blocking off an attack here." The knight pointed to an area on the map just before the Tortall/Tusane border. "Then, after a couple more training sessions, my troop should be ready to join troop 5 and meet with 4 here."

"I don't know…"

"Trust me, this'll work."

**-----------------**

The sound of practise swords banging together filled the courtyard when Myles exited the palace several weeks after his discussion with the king. "Excuse me, if you could all stop what you're doing."

"I wonder what Sir Myles wants." Alanna heard someone behind her ask.

"If you shut up then maybe you'll find out," Another replied.

She turned around, "How about you both shut up," she hissed.

"You all have been doing quite well over the fast few months we have been training. Tomorrow, you all shall forge your own swords, practise with them. Then we shall be moving out to join the others out on the battlegrounds. Be ready, we may have to change out plans at a moment's notice."

Everyone began to talk amongst themselves about the sudden change. Most of them had thought they'd be training forever.

Alanna turned to her friends. "About time."

Raoul grinned. "We told you to be patient."

"Yeah, but still…"

"In any case, it's high time we all headed in and got cleaned up before supper," Gary said as they marched out of the practise yards and into the castle.

**-----------------**

-_So, you shall be heading out for the battle grounds soon? -_ Faithful asked, his tail swishing silently back and forth.

"Yes. It's about time too," Alanna replied.

_-Remember, only fools rush in things-_

"I know that. It's just I'd rather get this done and out of the way as soon as possible. The last thing I need is for anyone to find out the truth and my brother be dragged into this war."

**-----------------**

**nicolerena: Well… I suppose there'll be some fluff- not a whole lot. Just don't expect it to be Alanna/Jon. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Alanna/Jon parings, I'm just not all that crazy about them.**

**NealsChick: It's not really finals that make this a busy time. The Friday after Mother's Day I'm going to the other side of the country for a week. So I won't be able to update for a time.**

**Madame-S-Butterfly: That happens once and a while. There'd been I time when I couldn't even log on.**

**stormrider7: Ha! It amuses me when my parents try to hide my stuff as punishment. It only ends up in vain. I looked it up and you're right! Coram is spelled with one 'r'. Man, I gotta start slowing down when I read over the stories! I wasn't planning to put Alex in my story. I don't really care for him either. I don't know what it is…I just don't like him. And As for Roger…hmmm…I'm working on how he's gonna fit in. He isn't gonna have a big evil roll or anything like that. Heck, If I can't find a spot for 'im, I'm not gonna bother putting the guy in.**

**And I wanna remind you to PLEASE let me or LeiaPrincess21 know if you're interested in becoming a staff member for her C2. Until the next update, ciao! **


	5. On the Battlegrounds

**I'm sorry I didn't update for the past little while.**

**Disclaimer: There's a reason it's called a fan fic. **

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**Chapter 5: On the Battlegrounds**

Just arriving in the camp, there was next to no time to waste as everyone began to unload whatever they needed, pitch tents, and so-on. Nothing really exciting but what could be expected?

Exiting her tent, Alanna ran into George. "Sorry."

He grinned. "It's alright, lad. Th' Tusane dogs are on the prowl, keep a sharp eye out."

"Oh, I'll keep more than a sharp eye out," She replied, patting the hilt of her sword.

"Good." He walked off to Sir Myles tent.

"He's a mysterious one." She muttered to herself as she left to find her friends in hopes of a friendly spar. She found Jon and the others talking to someone she didn't recall ever meeting.

The dark haired prince grinned when the last member of his circle of friends joined them. "Alan, this is my cousin Roger."

The man smiled at her. "So you're Alan. Jonathan has spoken fondly of you. I am Roger of Conte."

"A pleasure," Alanna replied.

"What are you doing here, Roger?" Jon asked.

"I'm here to see how well things are going here and to report to your father if anything is erroneous."

Not finding the conversation all that interesting, Alanna turned to Gary and Raoul, "Any of you up for a sparring match?"

**-----------------**

The fierce cries of battle came sooner than anyone could have ever expected. The Tusane army had surprise attacked the group late one night.

A loud yowl at her ear and Alanna was sitting bolt upright and wide awake. She looked down at the ebony cat. "What?"

_- You're camp is under attack. But if you wish to die then by all means, go back to sleep – _Faithful replied, leaping off her cot and exiting the tent.

"Damn cat," Alanna muttered, grabbing her boots and pulling them on. Throwing the tent flap open, her eyes widened. Tents were burning, carved up bodies were all over.

"Alan! Behind you!" Someone cried. Spinning on her heels, Alanna narrowly missed being skewered. Drawing a blade of her won, she attacked.

Her attacker blocked it with ease. Grinning, he said, "This'll be easy."

"I don't know about that!" She replied, striking again.

The Tusane knight's blade swept around and the steel blade bit into her side. Wincing, it hurt, but she didn't back down.

**-----------------**

"How many have we lost?" Myles asked.

"Fifteen," Duke Barid answered.

Looking around, Gary asked, "Where's Alan?"

Turing to Barid, Jon asked, "He wasn't…" The Duke shook his head.

"You don't suppose he's M.I.A.?" Raoul asked, worried.

"We should look for him. Keep your blades ready, there could still be Tusane warriors lurking about," Myles ordered.

"Right!"

**-----------------**

Clutching her side, Alanna slowly began to head towards the center of the camp. The deep wound she had received was far beyond her healing abilities. She figured it would teach her not to under estimate her opponents from then on. Raoul and Jon came from behind a smouldering tent and upon seeing her were there at her side in seconds.

"Mithros and Goddess bless, we thought we had lost you." Raoul helped support her as they headed towards the others.

"We found him!" Jon called.

**-----------------**

**Shewhorunswithunicorns: I know how you feel. Sorry 'bout that.**

**Stormrider7: Before you go scheming anything, know that I don't ever intend to write one. And frankly, I like breathing. ; ) As for anything A/G, you won't have to expect a relationship. And about war and fighting, this is the first time I ever wrote anything based around war so it might not be all that great but I'll try really hard.**

**Madame-S-Butterfly: I've got to agree with you there.**

**Nealschick: Sorry about the wait.**

**Dancer With Waves: Yeah, there'll be fluff. Not much but fluff's fluff.**


	6. Not Over Yet

**Hey people. Sorry about the wait for the last chapter. **

**Disclaimer: Not mine yada, yada, yada. You get the picture (rolls eyes)**

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**Chapter 6: Not Over Yet**

Waking up, Alanna had found herself in the infirmary. She couldn't recall much from the previous night after Jon and Raoul had helped her to the others and fainted from blood loss. She ached terribly all over.

_-You're awake. It's been two days. - _Faithful said, softly padding over to her.

"Two days?" she repeated. Faithful didn't reply.

Duke Barid poked is head in, "So, you're finally awake." He stepped back out of the tent. There were soft voices outside the tent and then Myles and Roger entered.

"How are you feeling, Alan?" The knight asked.

"As well as can be expected," She sat up and Roger gasped. Looking down at her chest, she found that her breasts were no longer restrained by her special corset. Before she could hide her bandaged chest, Roger had dragged her out of the tent.

**-----------------**

"We have been defiled. In our midst is a woman!" Rodger shouted, shoving Alanna down.

Jonathan walked up to them, followed by their friends. "Alan?"

"I didn't want to lie, but how else was I supposed to keep my brother from taking part in this war?" She stood, arms folded across her chest.

"What is your real name?" Gary asked.

"Alanna of Trebond, I'm Thom's twin sister."

"She has no right to be here! We should-" Rodger was cut off by Myles.

"Alanna has proven her worthiness to this army." The knight nodded to her.

**-----------------**

Alanna had been left behind, much to Jon, Raoul, and Gary's protesting. Sitting next to the small fire, she lost herself in thought. Word had been sent that the Tusane army was being held off just inside the Tusane border and at the rate things were going the end of the war was coming into sight. She had a bad feeling but wasn't sure what it was.

Faithful Joined her. –_You might want to follow the others back to Corus. Unless I'm mistaken, I thought I saw Tusane spies following them. There's no doubt in my mind that they may be preparing to strike when least expected.- _

"So soon! They won't be ready for an attack!" Alanna stood abruptly. Dousing the fire, she saddled Moonlight and trotted after the others. They were a half day's ride ahead. She figured they'd stop around dusk, giving her time to catch up and hope she wasn't too late.

**-----------------**

It was well past dusk and she still hadn't caught up to them. They must have kept going. But they'd have to stop at some point, right? Corus was still a long ways away so there was still a chance.

She stopped for a rest. Looking up at the sky, she figured that she might as well stop here for the night. There was no point in going still. Eventually Moonlight would get tired and neither would she have the energy to keep going.

**-----------------**

**A week or so later:**

They had made it back to Corus. Jon still felt a bit guilty about leaving Alanna out there, even if she had lied to them. He knew Gary and Raoul felt the same. Even if he didn't say anything, Sir Myles felt that way too.

In his room with Gary and Raoul, they were discussing that very topic. "It doesn't seem right no matter how you look at it." He paced the room.

"Her reason behind lying to us seemed good enough," Gary agreed, staring at his fists.

"It goes to show that girls aren't as weak as we seem to think they are. Now That I think about it. It seems unfair for girls not to be allowed to fight," Jon slumped into a nearby chair.

"If all of them are as strong and skilled as her, we'll have to watch ourselves," Raoul said, trying to lighten his companions' moods.

**-----------------**

**Madame-S-Butterfly: Once again I'm sorry. Don't kill me!**

**Prince Jonathan's Lover: Thanks -.**


	7. The Lioness' Roar

**For those who haven't looked, I've added a list of stories I'll be writing in the future to my profile. One of them is already in progress. So that's something to look forwards to (And to bug me about :D). **

**Disclaimer: I'm not going to say it. We've all heard it enough times.**

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**Chapter 7: The Lioness' Roar**

She had finally made it back. Now she just had to warn them about the Tusanes, although that was easier said than done. Standing just inside the palace doors, she took the time to consider her next move. She had no idea what the Tusanes were doing at that moment. If she wasn't careful, it could turn into a rather ugly situation really fast.

"Alan-er-Alana?" She turned to see Gary and Raoul coming her way. "What are you doing here?"

She had to tell them, they would be able to do a lot more to convince everyone that Tusane warriors were in the palace than she alone. "There are Tusanes inside the palace."

"What?" They looked at her oddly.

"Are you certain, Alanna?" Gary asked, "Are you really sure that they're-"

"Yes! They followed you when you left the camp site!" She cut him off.

"What do they want?" Raoul asked. "The war's nearly over."

"Think about it. What _very_ important family to the kingdom is here? What family controls the fate of Tortall?" she demanded.

They looked at her confidently. "What do you need from us?"

**--------------------------**

She had sent them in ahead of her to make sure everything was alright and to tell Jon and Myles about what was going on. No matter what were they to tell Roger of what was going on. She trusted him about as far as she could throw him. Waiting outside the ballroom doors, she guarded it, hoping that their majesties hadn't been so careless as to leave all the doors unprotected.

There was a sound behind her. She was instantly facing that direction and met the full force of someone's fist. Staggering back, she saw pinpoints of light across her vision. She only had enough time to blink them away before realizing that the intruder was about to attack again. Catching his fist in her hand, she kicked his legs out from under him and backed away.

Drawing her sword, she watched his next move intently. He drew his own blade and attacked. She brought her blade up and under, the sharp metal biting into his forearm. She brought the bloodstained blade away from him and took up a guard stance.

He came towards her, his blade swiping madly at her, missing her each time. Blocking a blow that would've ended her life, she stumbled backwards. On the ground, she had little time to get back up. The best she could do was use her sword as a type of shield until she could get back on her feet.

The next thing she knew, her foe was on the ground dead, a dagger in his back. Standing, she took it as a sign that someone else was here. "Where are you hiding?" She demanded. Out from the shadows came George. "What are you doing here?"

"I could hear fightin' all the way from the other end of the corridor and decided to see what's going on."

Before she could respond, the sound of things breaking and people screaming. "Thank you but I need to go now." As she went to leave, he caught her arm. She turned back to him. "Um… George?"

"Just in case I don' have another opportunity to..." He brushed his lips against her. Alanna felt her face grow warm.

"George?" She looked up at him surprised.

"I love you, Alanna of Trebond. Now, if I'm not mistaken, you have some people in there that need your help."

"Right." She turned on her heels and threw the doors open and ran into the chaos in the room.

**--------------------------**

Her blade had felled several men that night, but this one wouldn't be easy to get rid of. Quick on his feet, this Tusane warrior was more like a dancer than a fighter. He was starting to get on her nerves, leaping away from her blade and attacking when she missed.

"Dammit!" She cursed.

He grinned. "Tired? Let me help put you to sleep… permanently." She dodged his rapier and struck his shoulder, leaving a deep gash. It was his turn to curse and swear. She brought her blade around again and it plunged deeply into his chest.

Pulling it back out, she watched as the dead body fell to the floor. She knew whoever did the clean up job wouldn't be too pleased with all the blood that stained everything in the room, but it couldn't be heaped.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and for a brief moment, thought it was another attacker. She whirled around, her blade ready, only to find it was Jon, his hands raised and a surprised look on his face. Slowly, she let her guard fall.

"It's over. I wanted to thank you for coming here and trying to help us even after what was done."

"It's nothing. But now I think I'll be leaving." She turned and headed for the doors. Her brother hadn't gotten involved, the war was over, and there was no reason for her to stay.

"Alanna?" She turned back to look at him. His father, King Roald was standing next to him. She realized he was the one who had spoken. "How would you like to become our first lady knight?"

She stared at them. Jon gave her a reassuring grin. This was a great opportunity for her and there may never again be on like this for her. With a grin of her own, she nodded, tongue tied.

**--------------------------**

He was in the middle of an experiment when Maude came bursting through the door, causing the delicate spell he was working with to backfire, leaving a layer of smoke and ash all over his face. "What is it?"

She grinned at the state of the new lord of Trebond. Getting her laugh under control before it could spring loose, she said, "She's back, and she's the first lady knight of Tortall in over two centuries.

Thom grinned. So his sister had succeeded with her plan after all. Forgetting about the experiment, he followed her down to the dining hall where a girl width copper hair and violet eyes waited.

Unlike Maude, Alanna burst out laughing at her brother's appearance when he entered the room. He raised an eyebrow. "What's so funny?"

Not trusting her voice, she pointed to the mirror above the fireplace, urging him to take a look. Grinning himself when he saw what she was laughing about, he used his gift to clean up the mess before returning to his sister. "So, you're the newest knight at court?"

"Yup, and I've heard that you're the new lord here. "How'd that happen?"

"Father passed away while you were gone."

"I see." They turned when the door opened and Coram stuck his head in. "There's someone here to see you, Alanna. He says his name is George Cooper."

Alanna nodded, taking her brother's arm, she said, "There's a friend of mine I'd like you to meet."

**END**

**--------------------------**

**I hope you all enjoyed this little fic. So now that the story is over I'll get to work on the fics in the list I mentioned. **

**Sera dy Relandrant: Glad you like it.**

**Madame-S-Butterfly: That's what makes it so easy to write this fic, how similar they are.**

**Lora l. : Well, this one's over now, but there's more fics to come.**


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